Bvlgari sold jewellery for 108 years before it sold a single perfume.
The house began in Rome in 1884. Its founder was Sotirios Voulgaris, a Greek silversmith from Paramythia who left home in 1877, worked his way through Corfu and Naples, and opened his first shop in Rome. He shortened his name to Sotirio Bulgari. The brand still writes itself Bvlgari, using the classical Latin V, a nod to ancient Rome.
For over a century Bvlgari meant gemstones, watches and high jewellery. The first fragrance did not appear until 1992: Eau Parfumee au The Vert, a green tea scent by Jean-Claude Ellena that helped start the whole tea-fragrance trend.
Perfume became a real arm of the business after that. Bvlgari built pillars like the Bvlgari Pour Homme line and, later, the high-end Le Gemme collection, where each scent is themed around a precious stone. These sit at niche prices to match the jewellery name above the door.
Bvlgari is now part of the LVMH group, which bought it in 2011. The jewellery still leads. The perfumes carry the same house codes: polished, precious, built to feel expensive.
Here is the part worth saying plainly. When you buy a Bvlgari fragrance, a large slice of the price is the jewellery heritage and the bottle, not the liquid. That is true of most designer perfume. The scent inside is a known construction. The Roman name is what carries the premium.
Our Wild Tiger is our take on Bvlgari Le Gemme Tygar, rebuilt as a UK-made spray at 35% concentration. See more in the Bvlgari collection.
